The forgotten story
by Medley Nightfallen
Summary: "He painfully regained consciousness, almost unable to see anything in the dark and he could only hear the lapping of the icy water, where his whole semi paralyzed frozen body was bathing" Mainly Arlong, Robin, Buggy, Alvida, Shanks, Rayleigh, Zoro, Sanji... and many others! Rated M for future themes. By Shiva Rajah.
1. Chapter 1

**THE FORGOTTEN STORY**

**(by Shiva Rajah and Claude Neix)**

**Good morning/afternoon/evening/whatever everyone! Before anything else I want to say that I don't own either One Piece nor this amazing story. I found this french fanfic and fell in love this it (yeah, a kinda twisted 'love-at-first-sight' ^^') and I had the strange urge to share it with those who can't understand french and who might love it. So I'm translating it into english (since I'm french myself and an amateur, I apologize in advance for the mistakes you might find. I might have wrecked some attack or place name and expression, so please tell me if so).**

**You'll find a lot of characters from One Piece here, but mainly Arlong (yay!), Buggy (YAY!), Alvida, Robin, Mihawk, Perona, Shanks, Zoro, Sanji, Shirley, Rayleigh, Nami... and a lot more! Happening after the anime (even thought it's not over, I know ^^'). You might discover some pairings you never expected to see too.**

**Rated M for future torture/sexual themes. And some humor too of course! *w***

**Anyway I hope you'll like it! Here we go!**

**X_x**

He painfully regained consciousness, almost unable to see anything in the dark and he could only hear the lapping of the icy water, where his whole semi paralyzed frozen body was bathing.

Salty water mixed with malodorous peat was seeping into his mouth and his nostrils, damaging his already open gills.

He tried to get out of the vegetable trap but his ankylozed arms could barely obey him and it took a while before he finally managed to escape the tangle of roots where the swell had led him.

Once he pierced the surface, he rejected the dirty sea water stuck in his throat by his branchial slits and inhaled a nocturnal gulp of air, but an unbearable pain shot through his chest and he found himself choking with his own blood congesting his lungs.

He coughed, spat a thick red liquid that reminded of ink in the night, and grunted in pain.

Shivering, his body anesthetized by the cold, and breathing painfully, he climbed along the giant roots as best as he could and, when he reached the dry land, he collapsed, moaning, on the spongy grass, emanating stenches of glairy mud, iodine and decomposed moss typical of mangroves from the Shabondy archipelago.

A violent shudder shook his numb body.

'_I hope I didn't land on the local headquarter of the Marine …'_

If he had, it would be over for him and his distraught flight, and he would be sent back in jail; only this time he would be sent to Impel Down, the nearest prison from here, and he knew he wouldn't survive this time, he knew what they were doing there, after having spent a few months there, after Fisher Tiger's death. He wouldn't survive, not in his state.

'_The ferris wheel… find the ferris wheel of the Shabondy Park…'_

If he used it as a landmark, he'd be able to know where he was.

Look up. He just needed to look up slightly.

Easier said than done. The pain in his chest was unbearable and because of the innumerable hours he spent in the icy depths of the sea, his body's gone completely numb.

And yet he managed to roll on his side after an herculean effort.

The wheel was right there, right in front of him, amongst the Groves near the ones where he was.

Instinctively, he had swum to the same place where, when he was a child, he, Hachi, Chu and Kuroobi used to come in secret to watch this ferris wheel, dreaming to be able to have a go on it.

If he still had some strength, he would have laughed but he was tired, so tired…

With a plaintive moan, he curled on himself, brought his knees against his chest and closed his eyes.

Heavy, weak, wounded and chilled to the bone, he blacked out without realizing it.

**xox**

Buggy left his cabin, dragging his feet, and paused on the doorstep.

With a heart-rending sigh, he noticed two huge shadows standing out the moonlight, somewhere aft. The two Marine warships that were escorting the Big Top still didn't have sunk nor been burnt to ashes by the thunder despite all his prayers!

Just by thinking he would reach the Shabondy archipelago with those Marine morons as bodyguards, he had a knot in his stomach!

Bloody arthritic mermaid! How he was dying to give them some cannon blows!

If he wasn't watched closely by the eye of their Den Den Mushi, he would have insulted them, squealing like a stuck pig.

'_Why can't they understand that I don't need an escort, dammit! If I'm lucky enough, maybe an enraged sea monster will send them to the bottom before we arrive…'_

"Shit, shit and fucking shit!" He grouched loudly, kicking the cabin door.

"Something's wrong, Warlord Buggy?" One of the men of the crew asked.

The said man clenched his knuckles.

"How many times must I repeat it, I don't want to be called this way, bloody smocked mackerel! It's Captain Buggy! Cap-tai-neuh! Well 'boss', I can take it if you want." He gave up with a wry face, speaking lower. "But no FARTLORD! Er… WARLORD, I mean." (he chewed his lip) "Well, it's the same anyway…"

The man joined his hands and his eyes began to spark with adoration.

"Oh, captain! You are so humble!"

"What a model for all of us!" One of his mates agreed.

Buggy stared at them for a short moment, in a daze.

"What's wrong, Buggy?" Alvida investigated as she left the cabin in turn to see him frozen to the spot.

"I think i need to puke…" He answered with a pout and he headed at the stern of the Galleon.

He stood at the railing, staring at the nocturnal horizon and for the umpteenth time he remembered the talk he had with the most influential of the Marine members, wondering once again if the current situation could have been different. What if he had missed his chance to take advantage of it. What if he had known how to find the right arguments.

But, once again, he came to the same conclusion: they didn't let him have a choice. Either he accepted the title of Warlord or being hunted relentlessly by the government.

It wasn't a deal, it was a blackmail.

What Buggy hadn't understood immediately was: why him, when so many others were more powerful and wanted? Just because he had been part of Gol D. Roger pirates?

Well actually yes. Because it became pretty obvious that the Marine wasn't truly interesting in him, but rather in Red-Haired Shanks. They were hoping to come to an arrangement with him thanks to Buggy.

No matter how many times he had explained that he and Shanks weren't friends and that the now Yonko of the New World wouldn't even listen to him, those stupid soldiers didn't want to hear that.

For weeks, he had thought as usual about the most convoluted and improbable scenarios to escape this trap but nothing very convincing.

The only solution more or less acceptable that came to his mind was to go and find Shanks, to explain the situation, to ask him to kick his ass – nothing too painful of course – and to go back to see these Marine morons and say 'See, I told ya he wouldn't listen!'. If he was lucky, they would admit they were wrong and they would leave him alone…

Well, he was hoping so, for now it was all he could do to save his own ass.

"Fucking shit… why me, why does that kind rotten plans always fall on me?"

"Warlord Buggy!" A man from the crow's nest shouted, putting a strain on him. "Shabondy archipelago in sight!"

"Buggy?" Alvida announced. He hadn't heard her coming behind him, with a young marine officer. "You have a guest."

The clown turned around toward the pink haired boy and crossed his arms over his chest, threatening.

"Whaddya want, kid?"

"My apologizes, Warlord Buggy, I'm here to suggest a list of artisans affiliated to the Marine to give the Big Top a coating in order to go to the Fishman Island and then, on the road of…"

"Nevermind, tadpole, I already have someone for that. "

"Ah… however I have to insist because…"

"I told you I have someone, are you deaf? " Buggy spat at the boy's face, who sank his head between his shoulders. "Do you finally intend to clear off and let me do my job or will your two tinned sardines in uniform keep sucking at the stern of my boat in the New World? "

"Er I… No, Warlord Buggy. We… we were just here to protect you in case…"

"Protect me? I was already eating four little rats like you as hors-d'oeuvres while you were still in your father's pants, you insolent midge! Leave me the fuck alone, dammit! If I had to e discreet, the last thing I need is reaching Shabondy with two soap boxes from the Marine stuck to my ass!"

"Yes, I… I understand, of course. I… I'm going to inform the general staff and…"

"Yeah yeah! Let's change tack and so flashy long!"

With this, he rushed back to his cabin fiercely, leaving Coby and Alvida behind at the bow.

"Did he get up on the wrong side of the bed?" The young man asked.

The beautiful pirate wrung her nose.

"Buggy likes to do the things his way."

The very recent colonel sighed and shrugged.

"This is his job, after all. "

**xox**

Someone touched his shoulder. A soft and shy caress.

A woman? Shirley?

Half asleep, his fingers closed around the thin hand to stop it.

It was small, fragile and cold.

"Are you sleeping?"

The voice of a little boy.

Hody?

"Hey! Old man! You okay?" Another voice asked.

'Old man!' Why not 'grandpa' or 'fossil' while being at it? He was still too young to be a grandfather! Those kids… he was going to teach them to respect their seniors, well really!

More importantly, what were that little clingy tadpole of Hody and his playfellows doing in his cabin? What kind of moron had let them go on board?

He wanted to stretch and almost scream, his muscles were so stiff and painful.

No sheet warmed by his own body was tickling his cheek and he couldn't feel his favorite pillow under his head. Funny…

He opened his eyes.

The darkness was the only witness of his disappointment.

So it wasn't a mere nightmare? He wasn't in his cabin and let alone on his vessel!

He gripped the hand he was still holding and eventually found a thin shoulder.

"Who is…"

He spat a huge amount of blood and the frightened child, whose he could only see the silhouette under the moonlight, stepped back with a scream, near his comrades.

"What's wrong with him?"

"He looks sick! We should bring him to the hospital!"

"I'll tell Hachi and Madam Shakki!

Hachi? So he truly managed to escape.

"Hell of a man…"

No way his childhood friend was going to see him laying on the ground like a worm.

He wanted to straighten a bit and the pain in his chest was so great that he lost consciousness again.

**xox**

Inside the Sunny kitchen, Robin and Nami were sipping a tea, waiting for the dawn that should come soon.

The whole crew was coming from the navigator natal village, where her sister had just got "flashily"married like Buggy would have said.

The Conomi Islands had considerably changed. Since White Beard's death, a lot of people had decided to run away from Grand Line and its surroundings to settle down in safer areas. The population of the archipelago had doubled and, when summer weather returned, every inn or guest house were full.

Cocoyashi, full of tourists! Who could have guessed three years ago…

But it was true that when Arlong and his fellows had been defeated, the little island had become a paradise on earth.

Thank to the people and the authorities, the Conomi Islands had taken a second breath. Cereals, vegetables and fruits were reaching proportions that no one could have thought possible.

"I must admit I can't imagine your village as you described it when Arlong was there. Everything seemed so prosperous and pretty…"

Nami shivered. Thinking about Arlong was making her boil in rage and coming back to the place where she had to bend before him hadn't been easy, not at all…

She nodded sadly and brushed away a long lock of red hair from her face.

"He was the worst bastard ever. I can't understand how Hachi or Jimbei could have been friends with a stinky fish like him!"

Robin raised an eyebrow but didn't comment her friend's openly racist words. When they were talking about her village or her foster mother, Nami was seeing red.

"What about your sister's proposition?" She asked to change the subject. "What are you panning to do, in the end?"

"I…" She sighed "Actually, I don't know. It represents a colossal amount of money but on the other hand…"

"You feel like you're about to sell of part of your childhood?"

Nami nodded and shrugged.

Considering the incredible explosion in prices of the houses of the village and the surroundings and (considering she was going to start a family now) Nojiko was seeing there the opportunity to sell the little house of their childhood in order to buy a bigger one. At first Nami had found the decision natural and was making sense, but now that she had her back against the wall and that a young couple had offered her sister an astronomic sums of money for the little house, she was doubting she could resolve to accept it, even if Nojiko had assured her that the fields mandarin trees weren't part of the negotiation.

Although Nami knew that, with her bounty, she could never live at Cocoyashi ever again, she wasn't feeling ready to cut the last bond that connected her to the memory of her foster mother. But not only…

"You know, in several months, the prices might increase again" She argued. "Maybe it's worth waiting a little bit. It would be stupid to lose a small fortune by being too hasty."

"You don't have to take a decision right now" Robin said as she suppressed a yawn.

It had been hours that the navigator was unable to fall asleep because of this stupid house business and her friend, who never really cared for material items (excepted if it could be used as a tool to achieve her aim), was truly starting to lose her patience.

"What's the point, Robin? When I think about it, it's stupid! The future of my sister, of her husband and of their children-to-be are more than a small collapsing house. Not to mention that too many bad memories connected to this place… it's on that very doorstep that this cheap shark, whose even a cook wouldn't want to make a shark fin soup, killed Bellemere."

Robin tensed again and took it upon herself once again not to comment but couldn't help the question she'd been dying to ask from the start:

"And why couldn't you offer a new house to your sister, with the booty you've collected those last months? That would solve her problem and you won't have to sell your house."

With some guilty pleasure, she saw Nami turn pale but, fortunately for her, Sanji entered the kitchen at that moment, saving her day.

"Nami swan! Robin chwan!" Sanji shouted as soon as he appeared, with little hearts in his eyes. "Why are you already up, my princesses? It's still pitch black outside."

Nami shrugged and shook her head.

"Sorry, Sanji, I couldn't sleep and Robin was nice enough to stay with me."

_As if I had a choice…_ The said woman thought with a resigned smile.

At about midnight the navigator had burst into the kitchen, where she had been reading in peace, and she never left, spreading venom, existential questions and doubts for the last four hours.

"Oh, my lovely Nami! You should have called me! I would have helped you to…"

"Good night, Sanji" The young girl replied with a deadly look and stifling a yawn. "I'm going to sleep a bit."

"_Good night_? But… it's almost five o'clock in the morning."

Nami, who'd already left, didn't hear him, and Robin let a fatalist laughter escape.

"Sanji, do you mind if you could make a strong coffee? I think I'm going to need it, to hold on until tonight."

The Chef kissed her hand passionately.

"Right away, my lovely Robin! Your wishes are my commands! And, now that we're alone...?" He added with a little lecherous flame in the eye.

Robin chuckled.

"No Sanji, thank you, you're nice."

Sanji pouted.

"You know I could take this as a offense, my Robin chwan?"

The young woman took his chin and gave him a chaste kiss on his cheek.

"I really need a strong coffee…" She whispered into his ear, making him shiver.

"Right away, my sweet Robin!" The Chef screamed, twirling around toward the furnaces, making the archeologist laugh.

Would Sanji have been an acceptable lover? Of course, without a doubt. Did he love her? Of course, she was absolutely sure about it. But like an incestuous brother or an excessive tender friend and it wasn't what she wanted. No, it wasn't what she wanted… Not anymore, now she was too old for childish oath, kisses on the forehead or short-lived nights of love. From now on, she needed something else…

**X_x**

**To be Continued...**

**So? Any ideas about the pairings or plots that might take shape? Please review, please? *0***

**I'll try to translate as quickly as I could! (15 more chapters before catching up the french version! *Phew* Gogogo!)**


	2. Chapter 2

**THE FORGOTTEN STORY**

**(by Shiva Rajah and Claude Neix)**

**Chapter 2**

**Yo! Just three words: Read, enjoy, review! ^w^**

**I only own the translation. One Piece belongs to Oda and the story belongs to Shiva Rajah.**

**X_x**

On the riverside of the Grove where was standing the Rip-off Bar, it was pretty hard to determine who was the most surprised or concerned: Hachi, Shakki or Rayleigh. When the children had rushed in to tell them that a sick man was outside, they've expected everything but that.

The three of them were now knelt beside Arlong's inert body, which seemed in a very bad state.

"Nyuh! H…how did he manage to swim as far as here in this state?" The octopus-man stammered. "We have to get him inside, nyuh!"

With Rayleigh's help, he carried his captain inside the bar and they laid him down on a blanket on the ground.

Arlong was panting with difficulty and a thread of black blood was dripping from his mouth.

"It's like he can't breath…" Rayleigh noticed as he moved him to the side to prevent him to suffocate.

"Hachi! Go to the Fishman Island and get Aladdin and Jinbei, hurry!" Shakki ordered.

"Yes, I'm going, nyuh!"

He rushed outside and the former pirate leaned over the wounded man. The remains of his prisoner clothes were barely covering his lavender-skinned body, once satin-smooth and spotless, now covered in bruises and obvious torture marks.

Shakki might never have agreed with Arlong's ideas or actions, but she had known him when he was a child, like Hachi, Chu and Kuroobi. Seeing him like this was breaking her heart.

"He really is in a bad state" She sighed and took a first-aid kit from behind the bar.

**xoxox**

At he Sunny bow, Luffy could barely contain himself.

"Who's that? Who's that?" He was harassing Franky since the moment Zoro had announced that a galleon was sailing straight ahead, from the crow's nest.

The giant adjusted his telescope.

"It looks like… yes, no doubt… it's Big Top."

The young captain's chubby face lighted up.

"The Big Top? Buggy? It's Buggy! Great! I hadn't seen him since Ace's death! I didn't even have the opportunity to thank him for having saved our lives, mine and Jinbei's!"

Franky raised an eyebrow.

"I thought it was Law who saved you that day."

Luffy nodded.

"Yep, that's true. But it's Buggy who made it through the battlefield with us while we were out. He carried us to Trafalguy's submarine. If he hadn't been there, we'd be currently feeding the crabs at the bottom of Marineford harbor right now. Shanks told me he had to zigzag in the air through Akainu's magma, Kizaru's light beams and cannonballs! Too bad I was sleeping! I wished I could have seen that!"

Franky smiled, unable to believe what he just heard for a second. Honestly! Safe for quasi-supermen like Rayleigh or Red-haired Shanks, who could be able to escape the attacks of Yellow Monkey or Red Dog? The poor Ace had tasted the answer after all! Especially when you carried two wounded men and that one of them was a huge whale shark man. Oh boy, Luffy was definitely naive!

"I heard he became a Warlord a little while ago."

"Seriously? Woah! So cool!"

"How can you possibly go into rapture over a nasty guy like Buggy?" Nami growled as her captain's overexcited squeaks woke her.

"What? Actually he is cool, big nose! And he is funny! And then, he was Shanks comrade, when they were young, on Roger's ship."

The young girl clenched her fists.

"Don't call him 'big nose', I remind you he hates this! Didn't you hear Franky? He is on Marine's side, now. Do you want him to send his little friends in uniform after us or what?"

"Mhh… Buggy would never do that."

"Yeah of course! And it's been almost three years you didn't see him, you fool!"

"I wonder if he changed!"

Nami face-palmed, disheartened.

**xoxox**

"Warlord Buggy! Galleon in sight astern!" A man screamed from the look-out post.

"I told you not to call me Wa…"

"It's the Straw hat! It's Straw hat Luffy, Warlord Buggy!"

Alvida frowned.

"Well, well…"

Buggy knelt beside her, on the ship's rail, and observed the approaching ship, which still looked like a tiny point at the horizon.

"The Straw Hat… Long time no see! Maybe this toad has some fresh news about Shanks?"

His companion studied him, surprised.

"Don't tell me that you're planning to ask for this little boor's help? Did you forget why we joined our strengths three years ago, you and me?"

The clown sighed.

"A lot of water has gone under the bridge since then. (Alvida scoffed) What? Do you still want to teach this pirate runt a flashy lesson? Come on, sweety, it's not worth the trouble! And, knowing him, I bet he won't even remember you."

"Sorry?" The beautiful pirate growled, upset. "All men aren't monoliths, Buggy the clown!"

The said man winced.

"And what is that supposed to mean?"

"It means what it means!" Alvida replied as she walked away sharply.

Buggy watched her as she crossed the deck, amused by her reaction.

He was probably the only male of the Big Top (not to say miles around) who didn't care about the seductive attempts coming from his beautiful partner and it annoyed her tremendously.

And yet she had tried everything, from the bra which unexpectedly come unfastened to the vain attempts to ignite his jealousy by flirting outrageously with every crew member! There was no use.

At first, she had even wondered if Buggy might have a 'little problem' down there but her fears had been swept quickly by the girls he kept bringing to his cabin every time they stopped to a port, especially when she could hear giggles and shouts of pleasure until the sunrise.

"What do those bitches have that I don't?" She kept wondering, not daring to ask the person concerned.

The clown captain had nothing to reproach her, by the way, because she was absolutely his type! But there was a catch: he knew her too well now to ignore what was driving his attractive partner. She loved to see the desire burning in the men's eyes (this desire that turned them into puppets in her fingers), and she never intended to answer it.

And so, by giving in, he would only sigh over attentions she never granted… it wasn't for him, certainly not! He was far too old for this kind of foolishness.

The sun pierce the horizon and he narrowed his eyes. _Here we go for another rotten day…_

**xoxox**

Jinbei was watching incredulously Hachi and Aladdin, the former Sun Pirates doctor, fidgeting around Arlong.

Their grave expressions were speaking volumes about the sawshark fishman's state as he spat blood continuously and gave out an horrible wheezing noise when he was breathing – if you could call his desperate attempts to bring air inside his lungs 'breathing'.

The first reaction of the paladin, when Hachi came to him to tell the incredible news, had been stupefaction, then incredulity and finally anger. A boiling anger, like one only this scoundrel of Arlong could ignite!

That guy… always causing problems! He would never change… and why did he have to escape precisely now, just when the Straw hat Pirates were about to come back here to take him with them?

"Damn scatterbrained hooligan! When will he stop making my life a misery?"

He had been too weak, back then. He shouldn't have only beaten him up, when he had announced he was leaving with his former crew, he should have destroyed his foolish resolve and making him renounce to act his own way!

"He is like your little brother, you saw him grow by your side, Jinbei. How could you risk killing him for a single second?" Aladdin had tried to comfort him back then.

His little brother… what a joke! A pain in his ass, and in Fisher Tiger's ass and in queen Otohime's ass on top of that! Yes, that young hooligan was only good to fight and pass hatred on to the youngest, like Hody, too naive to put things in perspective. Everybody witnessed the consequences one year ago!

But this time, Jinbei wouldn't miss the opportunity to give Arlong the beating of his life, no sir! In exactly two seconds, he was going to confront this moron face to face, to make him confess all the pain he'd caused to the little Nami and her village and then…

The former Warlord froze to the spot right after he pushed the door of Shakky's bar.

"Arlong…"

Ah, it was so easy to rewrite the past, to tell you could have done this or that and to keep in mind only the convenient memories you shared with those who'd walked by you side, whether they were good or bad, idealizing or demonizing them in order to feel praised or stop feeling guilty. But it wasn't easy at all to watch this very same past in the eye when you run right into it…

And when Jinbei's eyes plunged into Arlong's aquamarine pupils, the ground as well as his resolve seemed to crumble under his feet and an invisible hand gripped his heart.

Those eyes…

He had forgotten those beautiful blue eyes, this icy mint color, with pupils that could pierce your body like nails did, deeper and darker than the sea abysses haunted by creatures of nightmare.

How could he have forgotten such eyes, now domain of an excruciating suffering that made them shine and tremble like a tuning fork?

"It seems that something pierced his lung. Maybe it is a broken bone" Aladdin diagnosed, bringing him back on earth while he walked to their former nakama.

Hachi twisted his six hands.

"Nyuh! We have to do something! He can barely breath anymore!"

"What about putting him back into the water?" Rayleigh suggested.

Shakky nodded vigorously.

"Of course! That way he won't have to use his lungs anymore."

Aladdin shook his head sadly.

"Considering his gills condition, it's impossible. Not to mention he can't swim with a pierced lung. I don't even know how he has been able to arrive here without drowning. The most important damages shall have happened when he hauled himself up onto the grove"

_**(AUTHOR'S NOTE: except for the sedentary or "benthal" species, when a shark stop swimming it chokes (by swimming the water comes into his open jaws and is extracted by the gills to reject the oxygen). This is why a shark stuck into a fishing net by accident drowns.)**_

As if he was stuck into a living nightmare, Jinbei was unable to look away from Arlong's battered body and, gradually, his knuckles turned white under his boiling rage. A hatred he thought he had tamed after all those years, but he realized as he stared at his former brother-in-arms, visibly tortured relentlessly, this feeling was still there deep inside him, ready to burst out. A hatred feed by all the horrors the humans were able to perform.

Not a single inch of Arlong's skin had been spared, it was marked with burns, cuts or bruises. And those marks, Jinbei recognized them because he had experienced them himself, or seen them when he had been incarcerated: they were caused by tools used by the human torturers, clips, pincers, ropes, whips, brands and other horrors beyond the most abject imagination.

One of those monsters favorite amusement, when they had to deal with a fishman (and so they couldn't inflict the water torture, consisting in plunging the victim head first and pulling him/her back at the last moment, barely alive), was to pour vinegar, alcohol or boiling water into the branchial slits. And when he saw Arlong's gills, it was pretty obvious he had tasted this agony more than once…

Visibly, regarding cruelty, the prisons of East Blue had no cause to be envious of the Impel Down fortress.

_Well, if you are a fishman of course; nothing more than an animal, in humans eyes…_ An insidious little voice murmured in the former Warlord's head.

"ARLONG!"

Shirley's scream made them all shudder.

Jinbei and Rayleigh intervened to prevent the young shark mermaid to throw herself at her brother and she collapsed in their arms, in tears.

"He's gonna be okay" The sea paladin tried to calm her softly. "Aladdin is taking care of him."

"My brother… what have they done to him? What have the humans done to him?" She sobbed as gripped Roger former second's shirt.

Aladdin made a discrete sign at Jinbei and the said man walked to him, leaving Shirley to Shakky and Rayleigh.

"I can't do anything" The doctor whispered as he brought him at the back of the bar, away from eavesdroppers. "He needs an operation and I don't have the required equipment."

The former Warlord turned pale.

"What? It can't be this serious."

"A broken rib is, _it seems to me_, deeply stuck into the left lung. I need to open, clear it and cauterize the blood vessels to stop the hemorrhage."

"So we have to bring him to the hospital. Who cares if he got arrested again by the Marine. Prison is better than death."

Aladdin sighed.

"Jinbei-aniki… we are on Shabondy archipelago. If they catch him there, he'll be sent to Impel Down. And in his condition, he will never survive."

Jinbei blinked, sickened.

"So, if I got it right, you're suggesting doing nothing, watching him drowning in his own blood, aren't you?" He growled through clenched teeth.

"I… I can make it quick and spare him more pain" The doctor whispered in a barely audible voice, turning away.

The former Warlord jerked back violently and his brain tried desperately to assimilate and come in term with what he just heard. At that moment, without warning, a flood of memories bombarded him, as if his brain had decided to turn back the pendulum in a few seconds.

He saw himself hitting Arlong's head, making all the Sun pirates laugh. He remembered their first hangover, the sawshark man was only fifteen. And he could almost feel the tickling of his small rostrum, still soft at that time, against his torso, when Arlong was only a small boy, barely a teenager, and used to snuggle up against him because he was fearing that the "mean human pirates" would kidnap him to sell him.

Jinbei felt his eyes water and a lump in his throat.

How could he have forgotten those little details when they all were so clear in his mind?

"Jinbei-aniki?" Aladdin insisted.

The whale shark man shook his head furiously.

"No way…"

"But…"

"No. We're going to find a way. We…"

"HI EVERYONE! GUESS WHO… Huh? What's going on here?"

They all turned around to see Luffy, who just came into the bar, with his whole crew and Buggy the clown.

The clown in question took in the place, whistled and raised an eyebrow.

"Oh boy! Why do I have the feeling that we turn up at the awkward moment?"

**x_X**

**Remember the three words from earlier? Good. Now please think about the last one and act. Shiva Rajah would like to know if the story is good or not, makes sense or not, and why. So please be nice and voice your opinion, please? ^v^**

**Ah and... to ****LovestoryGirl: I'm afraid none of the pairings you've suggested are right, sorry. Expect the unexpected ^^**


	3. Chapter 3

**THE FORGOTTEN STORY**

**(by Shiva Rajah and Claude Neix)**

**Chapter 3**

**Yo! I know I'm late, I'm sorry but for once I think I had good reasons. You know, like exams. VERY Important Exams (VIE). ...that I think I've kinda failed. Which leaded to some tantrums, which leaded to some hard words with my family, which leaded to depression, which leaded... No, let's not talk about suicide yet, let's finish translating and updating this amazing story before (one of the only few reasons why the world isn't some shitball! ...yeah I'm not very subtle those days)**

**I hope you will enjoy it anyway.**

**I only own the translation. One Piece belongs to Oda. This story belongs to Shiva Rajah.**

**X_x**

"We have to bring him on the Sunny! Right away!" Chopper ordered after examining Arlong, who was gradually drowning on his own blood. "The operation won't be simple because I don't have all the equipment I wish, so it won't happen at best but I can do it. Especially if you assist me."

Aladdin nodded vigorously.

"Of course. You can count on me, Chopper-sensei."

"So let's go! Franky, bring a stretcher! We have to move him the as little as possible. (The giant obeyed straight away.) Aladdin-sensei" The little reindeer added. "Do you have something we can use to place a probe?"

"Yes, of course" The former ship's doctor nodded digging frenetically into his bag.

"In that case, I'm going to inject a sedative in order to facilitate you…"

"Chopper!" Nami shouted, paler than a shroud and her fists so clenched that her nails were digging in her palms.

When she had walked inside the bar and seen the man she was considering as her former torturer, she thought that her blood had just frozen in her veins.

Of course, Franky, Chopper and Robin weren't part of the crew yet when they had defeated Arlong and his gang, but what she had told them about her past should have immediately allowed them to know what kind of bastard was the fishman who was currently bleeding to death. It was just a payback for all the sufferings he'd caused to the people of Cocoyashi!

This was at least how Nami was seeing things, and also how she had expected her nakama to see those facts the way she did… she was wrong.

"I'm sorry, Nami" The little reindeer apologized in a soft but firm voice. "I understand that you consider this man as your enemy but I am a doctor and, for me, he is a patient I have to save above all."

"Your patient, as you say, killed my foster mother by shooting her through the head!" The navigator screamed, tears o rage streaming down her cheeks. "And he…"

"Nami…" Luffy intervened, placing a hand on her shoulder. "Chopper is right. His job is to save those who need his help. No matter who they are."

"But…"

"I know. You hate him and we can understand why. But, while he is your enemy, he is also Hachi's and Jinbei's friend, and madame Shirley's brother. Leave it to Chopper. Do it for them. Okay?"

Jinbei, Shirley and Hachi looked away, horribly ill-at-ease.

Needing a support, the young girl searched for Sanji but even him was biting his tongue. How could he have decently encourage the navigator's murder desire when he had been saved by the beautiful Shirley, Arlong's sister, a year ago?

Despite everything Nami tried to find something to say or to do. She wanted to jump on the sawshark man to snatch the tube from Aladdin and Chopper as they were trying to plunge it into his throat to evacuate the blood obstructing his lungs. She wanted to grab one of Zoro's swords and slice his stomach from bottom to top, gutting him. Oh! She wanted to do so many things… but she knew that, if she acted that way or kept trying to convince her friends to let Arlong die like that stinky freak fish he he was, she would have the bad role.

So she preferred to leave the bar before doing or saying something she would certainly regret.

**xox**

"I am ready" Robin announced, wearing a blue surgical gown.

She had accepted to assist Aladdin and Chopper, helping them to put their masks and surgical gloves after she did the same.

"Good, here we go. Doctor Aladdin?"

The brotulas merman checked Arlong's reflex and adjusted the sheet over his body.

"Everything is ready, Doctor Chopper, we shall begin."

Robin held the scalpel out to the little reindeer who, before his colleague's bewildered eyes, took it and incised the lavender flesh without the slightest hesitation, his arm never shaking.

**xox**

At Shakki's bar, empty at this hour, Buggy and Rayleigh were sharing old memories around a glass of rum.

The Big Top crew had been "off duty" until dawn, more because their captain didn't want any indiscreet ear around him than by par real will to give free rein to his men - meeting a cargo of living drunk meat in the morning wasn't enchanting.

"The last time I've seen Shanks, he was speeding toward the Boreal Islands, to the New World north. It was… Oh! It was six or seven months ago."

Buggy the clown let a discouraged groan escape his lips and pressed his glass of rum with crushed ice against his forehead.

Although it wasn't noon yet, the smothering heat was almost unbearable; his light black and white smock was sticking unpleasantly to his body and his long ponytail was burning his neck and his back.

"Great… that means I'm going to have to run after him for weeks!"

"Buggy… Why do you care so much to find Shanks?"

Roger's former ship's boy shrugged.

"So he can smash my face."

Rayleigh chuckled and almost spat the rum he was currently drinking.

"Sorry?"

"You heard me."

"Good lord, what are you saying?"

Buggy sighed deeply and, in one breath, confessed to his former superior how the Marine had forced him to accept an improbable deal.

After all, why hiding it? It was not as if he was on a "top secret" mission, after all! By the way, now that he thought about it, only a complete idiot could have entrusted that kind of mission to someone like him…

Rayleigh listened patiently and nodded.

"Are you serious? Did it really happen that way?"

"Yep!" The pirate nodded and swallowed a long shot of alcohol. "Otherwise, why would they give the Warlord title to someone like me?"

Gol D. Roger former lieutenant smiled.

"I've seen your intervention on the live video from Marineford, three years ago. Impressive!"

"Ah? You think so?"

"Impressively ridiculous, of course."

Buggy didn't take offense, on the contrary he seemed amused.

"Mhh… yeah, it didn't exactly go as well as I was hoping it would but well. It's only postponed. I don't despair because I, the Great Buggy the clown, I…"

"Stop playing with me!" Rayleigh cut angrily, startling Shakki who was cleaning the glasses, pretending not to spy their conversation. "What were you trying to do with your 'I'm a moron who wants to become the king of the world' show?"

"You're not very nice with me, how rude of you."

His former superior sighed, exasperated.

"Buggy, I really need you to explain something to me, something I'm desperately trying to understand since Roger's crew has dispersed to the four corners of the world…"

"Ah?"

Rayleigh grabbed him roughly by his black and white cotton smock and his eyes bored into his, daring him to lie or to try to slip away by the usual clowning around.

"When are you going to stop playing dumb?"

Buggy broke free roughly.

"Maybe I'm not as talented as your dearest Shanks, that's all!"

Roger former lieutenant gritted his teeth.

"Don't play dumb with me, Buggy! You seem to forget that _I am_ the one who trained you and Shanks, and I know perfectly what you're both really made of."

Buggy looked like he was about to explode but, after a discreet glance toward Shakki, who was still pretending not to hear, he answered, barely audible:

"Do you know why a moron has an advantage over Shanks or Mihawk, Rayleigh? It's because no one cares about him, the Marine doesn't even know his flag and, when sun rises, there's no idiot who comes lamenting on his doorstep in hope to get a chance to defy him and prove his value. Well at least it was my case until these fuckers found out that I was part of the Roger Pirates, and now they've appointed me Fartlord."

"Warlord."

"Whatever, it's the same."

"Has someone seen Zoro?" Luffy asked as he entered the bar and cut their conversation. "I'm bored!"

**xox**

Robin moped Aladdin's sweaty brow as the merman was cauterizing Arlong's blood vessels one by one.

Chopper was rinsing what they had removed from his lung… and it wasn't a broken rib.

"It seems… it seems that this is a piece of calcified metal" He declared, stunned.

The former doctor of the Sun Pirates stopped a moment to look up.

"Metal? Calcified, you're saying?"

"Yes, look. It looks like a point of arrow or rather of a spear. Judging by the thickness of the calcified layer, this thing must have been stuck inside his body for years! Well, let's save that for later; maybe our patient would give us an explanation when he'll be awake. Anyway, now we're sure it wasn't a broken bone. His ribs are intact and we can close without fearing some missed fracture.

Aladdin nodded and, after moping the blood from the wound, he closed it and hold it properly in place to allow Chopper to suture it.

"We should take advantage of the fact he's still asleep to take care of his gills, Doctor Chopper. I'd like to check that no major lesion or foreign body to be sure there wouldn't be a secondary infection.

The Straw Hat doctor was eventually done with the stitches and completely closed the incision they'd carried out on the side of the fishman's torso, and Robin disinfected it meticulously before she bandaged it.

"If you allow me, Doctor" The little reindeer tried "I'd like to observe you to learn the appropriate gestures in this kind of case because I'm still not used to the specifications of the representatives of your race. My tools and myself are however at your service, it goes without saying."

Aladdin bowed gratefully.

"I thank you. The Fishmen gills" He explained as he inserted a retractor between Arlong's with an extreme delicacy "are very fragile and very sensible. The act I am performing right now" He added as he spread the branchial slits with a million of precautions, "would cause an excruciating pain if the patient was conscious."

Chopper observed attentively and nodded.

"I understand. Is this red color normal?"

"Yes. It's this darker area that isn't. See? Just there. The branchial filaments are very inflamed, maybe burned."

"So Jinbei-san was right? They've poured an acid liquid or boiling water into them? How horrible! What shall I do in this case?"

Aladdin fixed some sterile gaze at the end of a long pliers and soak it in tincture of iodine.

"You mustn't do anything other than disinfecting the area and getting rid of the dead fleshes and the possible foreign bodies. The branchial filaments will regenerate themselves. We just have to prevent the infection and apply an anti-inflammatory to the surface of the skin, where the branchial slits open."

Chopper nodded, studious.

"I see."

Aladdin removed the retractor carefully and slip it into the next slit.

"Do you want to try it, Doctor Chopper? Practice is the best way to learn and master the appropriate gestures."

The little reindeer accepted the pliers and drenched another compress, prepared by Robin, into the tincture of iodine.

"I'm counting on you to stop me if it is needed, Doctor Aladdin."

Robin couldn't help but smile when she saw Chopper blushing in pleasure every time his colleague called him "Doctor" and addressed him as an equal despite their substantial difference in age.

Conscientiously, she was passing compresses, bottles and instruments to them, moping their sweat and taking the opportunity to stroke Arlong's face and forehead when she felt him stir uncomfortably.

She couldn't help, by the way, but wonder about the texture of the lavender skin.

He was a shark man, so she had expected the pirate to present a rough and cartilaginous epidermis, like those sea predators, but it wasn't the case. Neither did he look like the "stinky, deformed and enormous monster" Nami had described when she was talking about the years she'd spent at his side – well, 'the years she'd served this foul riffraff' was more appropriate, my bad.

But no matter how long Robin observed him, nothing about this giant well built body or this soft and smooth skin, save for a few scars and obvious marks of torture, could be qualified as 'foul' or 'deformed'.

"Good, I think we did it…" Aladdin sighed, bringing her back to earth.

Chopper nodded and smiled as he used a clean sheet to cover Arlong.

"Yes, he should be out of trouble now."

The former doctor of the Sun Pirates removed his masque, his gloves, and offered his hand to the little reindeer.

"It was a pleasure to operate with you, Doctor Chopper."

The blushing reindeer shook the stretched hand and wriggled in pleasure.

"Oh! What are you talking about, Doctor Aladdin! I only did what I had to do, that's all! It was nothing special. Nothing at all, at all, at all!"

Aladdin raised an eyebrow, amused by his reaction, and Robin turned away to muffle a giggle.

**xox**

"Hey! Beh! Kid… What's with this gloomy face?" Buggy asked as he sat next to Nami who rested on a root, her feet brushing the surface of the water, and looked in a wreckage. "Did a perfidious little ill-bred thief steal your precious treasure?"

The young navigator sank her head into her shoulders.

"Don't tell me that you're still bearing a grudge against me for this old story…"

The pirate wiped the sweat pearling on his forehead with the back of the hand and leaned toward her until his strange red nose brushed against the young girl's, and his eyes pierced hers acidly.

"Let's not talking about the treasure sweety, but do you have any idea what I have felt when I've found myself without arms, legs and torso in the middle of the ocean, on unknown islands, at the mercy of sea monsters and…"

Without warning, Nami, reaching her breaking point, suddenly burst into tears, totally disconcerting Buggy.

"Oi oi! Wait, it's not such a big deal. Well yes it is, but… Oi oi oi! Look, I…"

The young navigator buried her face into his chest and sobbed even more, gripping his smock tightly.

"Great…" He groaned helplessly.

**xox**

"Are you alright, Jinbei-san?"

The words started the former Warlord. He hadn't heard Hachi coming, with his smile and relieved expression.

Save for Shirley of course, he was probably the one whose the wait behind the infirmary door of the Sunny had been the most unbearable.

"I was remembering the day we came to get Arlong back at Impel Down."

The octopus man blushed and looked down.

"Arlong-san should have shown more gratitude, I know it, but I think he didn't unders…"

"I'm the one who didn't understand, Hachi. (Hachi's eyes widened and Jinbei sighed.) Why didn't he talk about what happened to him there? Why did that fool keep everything to himself, allowing the resentment to eat him away like a worm?"

Aladdin had shown them the piece of metal they'd extracted from the shark man's body and Jinbei had immediately recognized one of the points of the tridents the guardians of Impel Down used. And then, the dates were tallying perfectly with the time when Arlong had been imprisoned in the submarine fortress.

15 years… he had kept this piece of metal inside his body during 15 years! That was unbelievable.

Hachi shook his head.

"Arlong-san is like this, nyuh. He doesn't like to talk about himself, about his doubts and his problems. This is the way he's found to show continually the image of an invulnerable and indestructible rock."

Jinbei closed his eyes.

"I wonder what he's still hiding from us, that moron. When he was a child, Tai-aniki had to tear the words off his mouth when something was wrong!"

The octopus man chuckled.

"Nyuh! I think that his sister Shirley is the only one who really knows him. However I am sure of one thing, Jinbei-san…"

"What thing, Hachi?"

"Arlong-san has got plenty of faults, nyuh! But he always loved us more than himself. This, Jinbei-san, even you, you can't denied it."

The paladin of the seas smiled despite himself.

"I wouldn't, Hachi" He said as he played with the piece of trident that Aladdin had given him. "No, I wouldn't. No one, on Fishman Island, could…"

**x_X**

**See ya for the next one! I'll try to be faster this time, but right now I can't promise anything (my apologizes to the readers and the author). BUT I won't give up, no sir!**

**Pleeeeeease review! *0***


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